


The Clone War Begins

by ReneeoftheStars



Series: Teyla Marin and Gida Tiatkin [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Lasan, Lasat, chava from rebels, tail end of a mission
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-23 11:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14331171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeoftheStars/pseuds/ReneeoftheStars
Summary: After finishing a mission on Lasan, Teyla Marin and her Padawan, Gida, are called back to the Jedi Temple. To their alarm, talk of war follows them through the streets of Coruscant once they arrive. It's not until they stumble across a couple of clone troopers that they realize that war between the Republic and the Separatists is not just idle gossip.





	1. Called Home

Teyla’s comlink chimed. She glanced at her pocket in embarrassment, then bowed to the Lasat before her.

“Pardon me, your majesties. This appears to be urgent.”

“Take what time you need,” Queen Hatafi said, inclining her head. Her green layered gown swayed as she turned to address the Captain of the Honor Guard.

Motioning for Gida to stay with the others, Teyla slid into an arching corridor just outside the throne room. The windows lining the stone hallway were open, letting in a strong wind that carried the scent of the grass plains beyond the city limits. In the distance, isolated craggy mountains rose against the darkening sky, as the fading light gleamed off the durasteel of the capital. Lasan really was a beautiful world when the dust seasons ended.

The comlink hadn’t stopped signaling. She pulled it out and examined the receiver. The signal was coming from the Temple. Frowning, Teyla checked the message.

A series of steady beeps sounded from the device. She waited for the message to begin, waited for instructions. The pinging noise continued. _Perhaps the noise_ is _the signal._ Teyla crossed her arms as she began calling to mind all the different signals and tones and codes used by the Jedi. There were so many of them. Sighing, she closed her eyes and focused on the sound. She knew it sounded familiar – she would have heard it before, while learning the signals as a Padawan. _Apparently, I need to review them all._ She let the noise carry her thoughts, and remembered Master Sinube pointing out the frequency and tone of the pings, standing by the central security station before a handful of younglings like herself. The old master had said that if they ever heard this signal, it meant –

Teyla’s eyes opened. _The return signal_.

But why in the galaxy were they being recalled to Coruscant?

Teyla reentered the throne room to find the royal family and Honor Guard standing around a newcomer. Teyla recognized her as the mystic from the shrine, Chava. The elder woman clutched her staff tightly, as though for support. Her mass of greying hair had been gathered atop her head, some strands falling loose as she shook her head anxiously.

“It has begun,” she was saying. “As it was told by the Ashla, written years ago by the ancients.”

King Parruvis rested a massive hand on his son’s shoulder. “What do you mean, Chava?”

“The Great Conflict,” she responded, green eyes wide. “The first true clash between the Ashla and the Bogen in a millennia. It will engulf the galaxy. We must take no part in it, sire.”

“Please forgive my interruption,” Teyla said, stepping forward. “I’ve received a message from Coruscant. My Padawan and I have been recalled to the Temple.”

“Yes,” Chava said sadly. “The Jedi’s part in the Conflict is imperative. Though what role you are meant to play, I do not know.”

Gida’s brow furrowed. “Why did they signal us? We aren’t expected back for at least another week.”

“The signal was not sent to us alone. It was transmitted to every Jedi in the galaxy.”

“Why?”

“I do not know.” Teyla turned to the Lasat. “My deepest apologizes, your majesties, but I am afraid we must return to Coruscant at once.”

“Of course, Master Marin.” Queen Hatafi extended her hand to Teyla, who took it. “For all you have done here, we thank you.” The Queen’s smile reached her yellow eyes as she squeezed Teyla’s hand gently before releasing her.

Prince Dalian went to speak with Gida. Teyla glanced over at the young Lasat. With his broken arm set and bound, and his other wounds tended to, he seemed in much better spirits. The dark stripes still seemed stark against his paled purple skin, but it looked as though he had regained some of his color. Dalian thumped his good arm on his chest as he towered over the Twi’lek. “I owe you my life, Master Jedi.”

Gida shifted shyly, her lekku falling over her shoulders. “I’m not – not a Jedi Knight. I’m an apprentice. And you don’t owe me anything. Really.”

“You may be a student now, but I am sure you will be a great Jedi Master before too long.” He grinned. “I respect that you Jedi see yourselves as servants of the galaxy. But it doesn’t change the fact that the things you do are still deserving of gratitude. As you must know by now, we Lasat take honor and life debts very seriously.  If ever I can aid you, please do not hesitate to send for me.”

Making a fist with the hand in the sling, Dalian clasped it in his other open palm and bowed. The girl’s eyes widened in surprise, then she mimicked the salute. When the two finally straightened, they smiled at one another.

“You have both proven yourselves to be honorable warriors,” King Parruvis boomed, clapping Teyla on the shoulder. She almost buckled under the weight of his hand. “You shall always be welcome on our world, and in our home. While I’m in half a mind to insist you stay for a banquet, I will not impede the will of the Jedi Council. Two of our Guard will escort you back to your shuttle. On behalf of my family, I thank you again, Master Marin, Padawan Tiatkin.”

The Jedi bowed and followed the Guardsmen from the throne room. Before they entered the corridor, Teyla glanced back. Chava still stood in the center of the room, gripping her staff and staring after them. The old woman caught her eye, and Teyla saw her lips move.

“May the Ashla be with you, child.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may at some point go back and write out the actual mission to Lasan. At this moment, I believe Prince Dalian was kidnapped, and the Jedi were called in to help the Honor Guard. We'll see. But that's not the story bit I wanted to tell just yet.


	2. Shadows Over Coruscant

The return trip took quite a while, as Lasan was on the very edge of known space. The quiet journey allowed plenty of time for speculating. But for the life of them, Gida and Teyla couldn’t imagine what would have prompted a galaxy-wide recall to the Temple.

“Has it ever happened before?” Gida asked as her Master checked the navicomputer once more.

“A few times, as I recall. Because of a rapidly-spreading plague, or an attack by the Sith army. But nothing in recent history.”

“Do they really expect _all_ the Jedi Knights to come back? Can ten thousand people even fit in the Temple?”

Teyla’s mouth twitched. “It’s far more than ten thousand individuals. The signal encompasses all aspects of the Order, including the Service Corps. They may not be all be Jedi Knights, but they are still Jedi.”

Gida frowned. She’d always respected the various Service Corps, but never really considered them on par with…well, the Knights of the Order. “So…will they come to the Temple?”

“In their case, I expect they’ll report to their own Councils.”

“There are other Councils?” Gida asked in surprise.

Teyla raised an eyebrow at her, and in that moment, Gida’s lessons as a youngling came back to her.

“Oh wait, yes, of course there are! The…” she squinted, trying to remember. “The High Council, of course, and then…Reassignment.” That one left a pang of worry deep in her gut. Even though Teyla had offered to train her when Gida turned thirteen, Gida had failed her first attempt at the Initiate Trials. Members of the Council of Reassignment had come to speak to her about transferring to one of the Service Corps. If it hadn’t been for Teyla’s insistence that she be allowed to retake the Trial with her guidance, Gida would probably be in the AgriCorps. “There’s also the Council of Reconciliation, and…” Gida looked sheepishly at her Master. “The fourth has something to do with information.”

“The Council of First Knowledge.”

“Yes, that one.” Gida made her chair spin around, enjoying the dizzying feeling of her lekku swinging. The blue and white light of hyperspace streaked past them, and Gida was glad they were returning home. Lasan was a lovely world, and its people were wonderful, but it had been a draining mission. She was looking forward to not having to monitor the emotions of others so closely. Most of the Jedi at the Temple were in control of their feelings, and she was able to block out the sensations. The Lasat, on the other hand, had very strong emotions, and made no effort to hide them. All the anger, fear, pride, determination, glee – everything they felt had rattled through her as though it were her own.

But she had followed her training, and had managed to not be overwhelmed by the incoming emotions. Teyla had said she was proud, and Gida found herself smiling again.

The shuttle’s navicomputer beeped. “Coming up on Coruscant,” Teyla said, taking the controls.

Gida stopped spinning as they dropped out of hyperspace above –

“Sithspit!” she blurted.

“Language!” Teyla snapped, but she too seemed startled.

At least a dozen of the biggest ships Gida had ever seen hovered just outside the planet’s atmosphere. With an arrowhead frame and an elongated structure – some kind of central command tower, maybe? – stationed towards the rear, the cruisers loomed large as Teyla angled the ship to weave around them. Various other ships – still at least twice the size of their shuttle – traveled between the planet’s surface and the massive vessels like scurrying insects.

Gida found herself leaning over the console, staring at them. “What are they? Who are they? Is it a blockade?”

“I don’t know.” Her Master seemed rattled. Her unease began slipping through to Gida, but Teyla steadied herself. “We’ll drop off the ship at Crolt’s, then go straight to the Temple.”

As they passed beneath the shadow of one of the vessels, Teyla leaned over and rested her hand on Gida’s shoulder. It was at her touch that Gida realized she had been holding her breath. Gida exhaled, settling back in her seat and trying to center herslef.

“They haven’t hailed us,” Teyla said, flipping through the comm frequencies. “And they aren’t making any moves to intercept. So no, it isn’t a blockade.”

“Well that’s good.”

“Yes,” Teyla murmured, “it is.”

Passing through the atmosphere was more nerve-wracking than Gida normally found it, but that may have been because she was bracing herself for the monstrously large ships to start blasting them. Teyla had fallen silent, and Gida fidgeted with her silka beads hanging from the disk around her ear cone. She recognized the line between Teyla’s eyes, the tightness of her mouth; the Pantoran needed time to process her own thoughts, so even though Gida was bursting with nervous energy, she stayed quiet.

The sun was just beginning to rise on this hemisphere, the pale light filtering through the atmosphere in a thin haze. Long shadows threw themselves against the permacrete and durasteel that made up the city-world, and Gida thought it looked like the planet was trying to hide.

The shipyard belonging to Aggronel Crolt was almost deserted as they landed. Gida found that strange, as Crolt was easily the cheapest structurally sound interstellar ship available to rent in the district. He had a contract in place that allowed members of the Order to rent his ships for missions at any time. Instead of having to go into the office, the Devaronian came out to greet them on the landing platform.

“Not dead then, eh?” he called as they descended the ramp. “Figured you would be, from what I hear.”

“Your information seems to be unreliable,” Teyla responded dryly. “Lasan was perfectly accommodating.”

Gida never knew what to make of the horned humanoid. After using his ships for various missions, they had come to an understanding, and he had become at ease enough with them that he often shared rumors and relevant gossip with them. He’d become a reasonably reliable informant. But his emotions slid around her awareness like a disk on ice, and she was unable to pin down his intentions.

Now, however, his energy was high, some bizarre combination of unease and anticipation. Gida felt her nerve endings begin to tingle with nervous energy that was not her own. She drew a deep breath and blocked Crolt’s input.

“Not talkin’ about Lasan. Wherever it is the Jedi all just came back from. Had a bunch of ‘em race over here in the dead of night and take some of my ships off-world. The Senate had to comp me for two that never came back. Thought maybe they’d’ve gotten you to go with ‘em.”

Teyla frowned. “We know nothing of this. What planet did they go to?”

“Some outer-rim dustworld. Didn’t catch the name. But something big went down there.”

“Has this got something to do with those big ships in orbit?” Gida wondered.

“Saw those, did ya?” Crolt’s brows contracted and he leaned forward conspiringly. “They’re for the army.”

“Army?” Teyla asked quickly. “What army?”

He gave a wheezy laugh and waved his hand. “Why, the Grand Army of the Republic!”

Gida felt a jolt of alarm go through her Master. Gida shot her a glance, and saw that Teyla had gone ridged. The Pantoran’s gold eyes were wide and alarmed, as though a ghost had sprung up in front of her.

“But…the Republic doesn’t have an army,” Gida protested, tilting her head to look up at the tall being.

Crolt grinned down at her, his pointed teeth bared. “It does now.”

A hand descended on Gida’s shoulder.

“We need to go.” Teyla’s grip was tight as she began steering Gida towards the entrance of the shipyard. “Expect your payment within two days.”

“Pleasure doing business with you, Master Marin, as ususal,” the Devaronian called cheerfully as they hurried away.

Teyla’s strides were long and quick, and Gida had to hurry to keep pace with her. She was beginning to understand the implication of Crolt’s words – and she fervently hoped that he was wrong.


End file.
